Thursday, March 26, 2015

THE YEAR AHEAD

I don’t ordinarily make political predictions. In fact, I avoid it. But this year, I can’t resist trying my hand. In India, the common vehicle for political astrology is the Lunar New Year chart, cast for the moment of the new moon which occurs before the vernal equinox. This year it fell on March 20 at 9:37 Eastern Time . It is cast for the latitude and longitude of Washington D.C., since it is traditional to examine how the yearly influences for a particular nation work out by using the coordinates of that nation’s capital. Here, then, is the chart for 2015.

To me, the Lunar New Year Chart shows a strong emphasis on economic policies in the US. I have noticed that the usual sources for “Vedic” political astrology, the works of Luthra, are simply “siderealized” versions of late 19th century Western mundane astrology, for example Sepharial and Zadkiel. I have relied instead on the Prashna Marga, written in the south Indian province of Kerala c. 1645. The Asendant or Lagna symbolizes the head of state, and since Saturn, the ruler of the Ascendant, is in the 11th House, which symbolizes the economy of a nation, we can see that Obama will be largely preoccupied with economic matters. But the ruler of the 1st and 2nd in the 11th -- not to mention the fact that Saturn also rules the nakshatra of the New Moon -- does indicate more economic recovery, which is typical in the US of second term Democratic administrations. Nevertheless, Saturn is still Saturn and it’s in an unfriendly sign, so it will be very slow and we can expect much resistance to the economic proposals that are suggested by the executive branch.

One area of American life which is likely to suffer a setback is property value, because the ruler of the 4th House is in that troublesome sector of the sky called gandanta, the borders of water and fire signs -- even though Pisces-Aries or Revati-Ashvini tends to be the least gnarly of the gandantas. But there will be significant recovery in property values before the end of the year due to the presence of the 5th lord Venus in the 4th, creating a raja yoga. Venus rules the creative arts of a nation as well, and the strength of Venus, combined with the fact that the year in general is ruled by Venus, suggests new and powerful artistic movements, much more important than the weary hip-hop, artistic abstractions, and hyper-intellectual novels recommended by the New York Times. This promises something new, exciting, and powerful. As my colleague Barry Rosen has pointed out, the last time we saw this kind of a Venus year was 1955-56, when Nabokov's “Lolita” was published and Disneyland opened. In 1895-96 Oscar Wilde was jailed for his homosexuality and his “Salome” was published.

The relationship issues of a nation are nowhere stated in the Prashna Marga – such matters as relationship issues did not have much of a place in classical Indian society. But in the West, we would place these in the 7th House, and the exalted Jupiter suggests that even though this has been a topic which has recently divided American society, we may see some coming together between formerly hostile interests.

Of course it is hard to miss all that 3rd House action in the chart. The Prashna Marga relies on the works of Varaha Mihira, who calls the 3rd House the house of valor, so in ancient times all military matters were read in prashna or horary charts from the 3rd. If we apply those horary rules to a political chart, the presence of Mars bears out the likelihood of military involvement somewhere, and Ketu suggests that there is something strange or mysterious about these military dealings. I would not be surprised to see an escalation of conflict with jihadist causes, probably even some American presence in foreign lands (since Ketu rules foreign people and places). There will be initial reverses for the US because Mars is gandanta in the 3rd, but antagonists in warfare are said by the Prashna Marga to be shown by the 7th, so the exalted Jupiter promises eventual success, despite Ketu confusion and possible scandals about some military matter.

The ruler of the 9th in the 2nd suggests that trade with foreign nations will be relatively healthy, though Rahu in the 9th indicates some religious difficulties, perhaps scandals involving religious leaders, more hostility towards “foreign” religions, or the introduction of new and “unusual” religious teachings. But Rahu usually does well in Mercury signs, so this ought not to be too traumatic.